《Peak [Writhathon]》


 Chapter 1 - Death, life and what comes after

    Kon died as he lived, consuming far too much energy drinks. He had been downing his fourth for the day, still tired from the overnight shift a few hours earlier. But, university required his attention so here he was, trying to stay awake in a boring lecture about chemical bonds.


    A dull pain bloom in his chest, he grimaced but pushed it down, just more to deal with he thought to himself, the pain having been a recent companion after a rather bad heart palpitation. The doctors had told him to get rest but how exactly could he rest? He needed to work to live and he couldn''t not go to university, he was paying a damn fortune to attend so he wasn''t about to waste even a single cent.


    The pain throbbed in his chest as some dark spots gathered in the corner of his vision. He blinked them away, wondering if he should get a optometrists to check it out but pushed that thought away. He would never be able to afford the appointment, let alone whatever slop they told him would fix it.


    He rubbed at his face, feeling the dark circles beneath his eyes, they were getting worse. Having deepened and leaving his looking permanently bone dead tired. He sighed, dreaming of laying his head upon a pillow and sleeping, how what he wouldn''t give. The black spot had come back and he blinked rapidly to clear them again.


    They didn''t leave, a slight frown formed on his lips as he rubbed at his eyes. The black spots grew some more as the pain in his chest suddenly flared up, he gasped, rubbed his chest as sweat beaded upon his forehead.


    "What the f-" Kon mutter but couldn''t finish the sentence as suddenly his veins felt like it was on fire. He gritted his teeth as he drew air in sharply. His eyes unfocused as he slumped forward onto the desk. The world and voice of the professor speaking seemed to fade into the background as his awareness tunnelled into the pain lancing through his chest.


    The spots grew rapidly, working to consume his vision as he struggled to breath, his body heavy and tired like someone had dropped an anvil upon his back. His gasping grew attention and he barely noticed the sounds of the professors lecture ceased and concerned voices suddenly surrounded him.


    Something shook his arm but he barely felt it. A deep numbness falling over his body. The sensation of heat and cold flared across his body in burst. His heartbeat sounded like a drum in his ears and he felt like everything was coming from a room away.


    Then the encroaching darkness devoured him. A sense of detaching overwhelmed him and he found himself falling.


    The sensation of movement was apparent, but the direction made no sense. It like was he was falling upward, sideways and in all other directions at once. His eyes opened, revealing a sight more perplexing, he was falling through a dust cloud, a massive vibrant mass of something that made a headache form in his brain.


    He brought a hand up to cradle his head but nothing responded. His blinked, trying to look down but only managed to look at the section of the cloud below him. But he couldn''t see his body, he drew in a breath, but the sensation of air entering and the rising of his chest did not register. It was like he was formless.


    A sudden twist in his gut hit him as he ''looked'' around, only to find he could see behind him and in front at the same time. Kon felt his mind start to unravel as he saw in all directions, as he saw that he had no body. As he saw the cloud was no made up of dust but of strange glowing orbs. Wisps that were all moving downward. Some were larger and most were shades of white, red and blue. There was a strange lack of any dark colours like black or grey.


    The reason behind the lack of dark colour eluded him but one thing that didn''t was that they were moving. The direction was hard to grasp, all of the wisps, including himself moved at the same time, at the same pace, making it hard to determine from his frame of reference that he was moving at all. No it was the massive lack of something far below.


    It evaded description but appeared as the absence of something. Not a black hole but a visible rend in reality that seemed to be sucking everything towards it. The speed at which he was approaching it was also alarming. In the short span of time he had since becoming aware in this place the rend that had been a faint glimmer in the far off distance had grown close enough that he could see into it. And within was the image of a curving tunnel of distorted space. It was the spitting image of those sci-fi movies about wormholes.


    But even thought Kon couldn''t tell exactly what was through this rend a deep sense of wrongness filled him at the sight. But struggle as he tried, all he could do was watch. So what he did, the rend grew closer, the wisps in front of him drew up to the rend and seemed to curve into and through it before vanishing from his view. The process repeated, space being played with like dough as thousands if not millions of those orbs, or souls if one made assumptions were sucked in.


    Then came Kon''s turn. He felt scared, but he couldn''t identify why. It was irrational, he was dead, what was there to be scared of? Yet as the rend loomed before him, a gaping hole in reality that fear tripled, then it happen, so rapidly he didn''t quite catch it.


    One moment he was flying towards the rend, the next he was... somewhere. It appeared like a large open space. Hundreds of the wisps floated around him, and a massive figure with the head of a bird was spitting out strange sounds that felt rhythmic, almost like a chant. The figure reached out, plucking souls at seemingly random from those that floated before it and bringing them to the bubbling pot of a dark fleshy looking substance.


    Kon''s attention was almost trapped on the sight as the figure grabbed a chunk of these flesh and shoved the soul, a wispy green thing into the mass. Its chanting grew in volume as the lump rippled and formed a very similar creature to the one chanting over it.


    It was shaped like a man, with two arms and two legs. But it had the limbs of a bird, thin and with a scale-like hide. Talons with wicked claws graced its hands and feet, the rest of it was similar to a bird, with feathers a dark blue, almost a black colour covering its torso. A tail made of long feathers jutting out its rear. Compared to its body however, its head was very different. The head was an ugly thing, blunt scaled and brute-like with large jaws and a stubby snout built for crushing things between its jaws.


    The figure threw the creature forward, the thing hitting the stones and laying there a moment before pulling itself up. It moved unsteady and with an awkward gait. Like its didn''t know how to use its body yet. As it moved it grew rapidly, until it was about half as tall as the strange bird headed figure. It quickly lumbered towards a large almost cave-like opening on the far wall of the chamber.


    Kon''s attention was divided between watching the creature and watching the bird headed figure. Thankfully in his soul state his vision wasn''t limited to the usual two eyes. The creature ran towards the opening, a dreadful shriek escaping its maw as it threw itself towards some threat. It didn''t last long, a long a gleaming blade emerged from the dark to made a ruin of its throat.


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    The creature crumbled as its jugular was cut clearly in two. It clutched at the ruin of its throat for a bit before emitting a final gurgle and falling still. The bird headed figure let out a sound similar to frustration and reached for another soul.


    This time it was Kon, try as he might he could do nothing but watch as the figure''s hand reached for him. A blackened limb with three digits, all ending in wicked looking points. The digits closed around him and dragged him towards the bubbling pot.


    The figure scooped a handful of the fleshly substance as it had before. Up close the mass was a writhing collection of skin, bones and muscles. All impossible mashed together. Fur and other many types of hair were visible within the soup of organic matter along with what appeared to be teeth.


    Those thought however escaped him as the figure shoved him into the mass within its other hand. A brief sensation of drowning filled him before suddenly he could feel again. The figure''s chanting suddenly entered actual ears and he drew in breath. The welcoming sensation of drawing in breath almost enough to make the awareness of the otherness of his new body not too bad.


    He threw open his eyes, momentarily surprising the figure. It seems it didn''t expect him to become aware so quickly. It spoke, its words suddenly making sense.


    "Good, now stall them-"


    The thing didn''t get the rest of its words out as the gleaming blade carved through the hand holding Kon. He felt to the floor along with the hand, as he pulled himself up he noticed that he was growing in real time. The hand which held him a moment ago having grown smaller.


    He used his new limbs to push himself up, the desire to know who, or what was welding the blade and if they were a threat made him push aside the distant awareness that he wasn''t human.


    It was a knight, the classical description of a knight, gleaming amour that gave out a sense of power. The figure had its blade sunken deep into the bird headed figures chest and from the look of outrage on the figures face it didn''t seem to like it. It started to roar, a strange stirring in the air as it drew in a deep breath. But an arrow flew from nowhere and slammed into its throat. Cutting of its roar.


    It gurgled, a strange golden yet black fluid seeping from its wounds. It stared with hatred at another figure. Kon followed its gaze to what can only be described as a elf. The classical elf with a massive bow in nothing but a slim outfit. He didn''t get to stare in surprise for long, as with a wet almost foul crunching sound the knight grabbed the hilt of his sword and pulled up.


    The effect was immediate, the figures eyes bulged as the blade slowly moved up, and up.


    "Wait! Wait! I can offer you anything! Anything at all JUST ST-"


    The knight rip his blade upwards, ripping it up and through the creature throat. It let out a gargled mess of sounds as it attempted to speak and failed with its ruined throat. The knight not stopping swung the blade downward and severed the figures head in one cut.


    The head seemed to hang there, defining gravity before it slowly slid down and hit the ground with a wet squelch. The knight stabbed his blade into the head as if making sure it was dead. Kon couldn''t find a reason why, the knight had already cut the figure''s head off. Surely that was enough to kill it. It was then he felt the cold steel pressing against the back of his skull.


    His body tensed, the fur on his.. fur? Kon shivered as he finally took a look at himself, he had similar structure to the previous creature, limbs like a birds but instead of feathers covering his body he had fur. A deep blue and thick coat of fur. The pressure of a blade against his neck halted any thoughts as he shivered.


    He distantly wondered if this was a record of the shortest reincarnation. To be rebored only to get stabbed shortly after. He stayed put. The threat of the blade enough to keep him laying on the floor where he had fallen when the knight had cut the figure''s hand off. The knight pulled his blade from the skull of the figure, cleaning it before sheathing it on his back. The knight turned to look at Kon, his gaze impossible to tell behind the gleaming helm.


    A voice, smooth and almost heavenly sounded out behind Kon.


    "Hm, what should we do with this one? The [GOD] that made it is dead so it won''t be doing much anytime soon."


    The elf''s words were strange, it was like he knew what they were saying yet didn''t. The word god also sounded odd. Like it was being spoken by someone else. The knight walked over, standing over Kon as it seemed to consider him. The knights voice was deep, was filled with a sense of battle


    "A [GOD MADE] goes for quite the sum of gold on the slave market... you still have the [COLLAR]?"


    The elf huffed at the knights words, moving around behind Kon as she rummaged in what was likely a pack of some kind.


    "Of course, you really think I''d just throw away something like that? Far too many scum that need a leash to behave."


    Suddenly a cold and hard object hit the back of his neck before a metallic click echoed out. Kon raised a hand as he looked down to see what they had called a collar around his neck. The colour was dull and the metal had an oddly smooth texture.


    He pulled at it and was rewarded with a shock. His limbs twitched as the current ran through them before stopping. Leaving him panting. The elf laughed and he felt a soft blow against the back of his head.


    "Struggle all you want once a [COLLAR] is on it doesn''t come off. Not without some help."


    The elf said, suddenly clicking her fingers.


    "Get up."


    The command seemed to register in his body before it hit his mind, leaving him blinking as he quickly got up off the ground. The sound of shifting metal echoed as the knight suddenly handed Kon a large leather pack.


    "Here, be useful."


    The duo started to walk towards the dark opening in the wall of the chamber where they''d killed what sounded like a god. But Kon wasn''t sure, the word sounded... wrong. His thoughts were interrupted as the elf called out another command.


    "Hurry up you damn bird-brained thing!"


    He jolted at the words, a small current shocking him. He clutching at the leather pack as he jogged after the already retreating duo. The current stopped the moment he caught up. Their pace was brisk but soon he was walking just behind the two.


    They passed sites of death, bits of creature strew everywhere, heads, organs scattered like rocks. Kon saw one of the creatures, one far bulker then the rest having been split in two. Some had been pinned to the rock by arrows and some were just missing their head. A red stain on the walls behind them. The sheer amount of death made Kon feel ill. He''d never considered himself weak when he was alive, or well. When he was alive before but the sight of so much carnage was enough to make him feel like puking.


    But the scenes quickly changed, for the first time since arriving here, Kon saw light. Up ahead the stone tunnel seemed to bend to the right, a faint golden glow streaking in from the passage. The duo walked around the corner, leaving him to quickly catch up to them. Stepping around the corner Kon was forced to blink as the light blinded him, it was almost forceful in its intensity. He halted his steps as he adjusted before stopping entirely.


    He was outside, the ruins of a temple, covered in plants and crumbling rocks spread outward before him. The duo of the elf and knight stood before two creatures similar to a horse, but far larger and stockier. The knight grabbed the saddle and hefted himself up. Kon stood at the entire to the temple for a moment before quickly jogged towards the duo as the elf sent an annoyed look towards him.


    Upon arriving the elf grabbed the pack of his hands before grabbing Kon himself, lifting him up with ease and dumping him onto the seat of her ride. She jump up after him. Grabbing the reins and snapping them with a soft cry. The horse-beast let out a neigh before starting to trod forward. The knight doing the same as the two moved in formation next to each other.


    Kon held onto the horse with all his strength, the uncomfortable ride at the back of his mind as he rubbed his throat, feeling the collar sitting on his neck. His mind was heavy, thoughts scattered and mixed. He was still reeling from dying, although the experience felt strangely muted. Same with everything he experienced while a soul.


    But the thought weighing the heaviest was what now? The knight had spoken about a slave market, calling him a god made. The knowledge of his fate suddenly dawned on him. He was going to be sold as a slave, he had died then gotten sucked into a rend in space before being made  into... whatever he was by something called a [GOD]. He shudder, a sudden feeling of despair overcoming him.


    "Fuck"


    Kon muttered to nobody but himself.

 Chapter 2 - A fine gift

    The ride was long and the elf didn''t make it easier. Kon was awkwardly shoved into the space between the neck of this horse-creature and the elf. It was because of this he became aware of the fact he now had a tail. Based off of how much discomfort he was feeling from his rear it wasn''t a short stubby thing. He was pretty sure that the elf was sitting on it as well.


    The horse-creature suddenly stopped, letting out a long drawn out neigh. The elf leaned forward, crushing Kon forwards as she stroked the neck of the beast. Alongside them the knight paused as well, scanning their surroundings. He paused on the road up ahead. Reached up to the sword sheath on his back as a tense silence filled the air.


    The knight''s voice broke the tension.


    "Reveal yourself"


    Nothing moved for a few moments before out of the grasses and behind some rocks on the road up ahead emerged people. They were dressed in simple clothing, all coloured a mix of greens and greys. In total four people emerged, one was wielding a sword, another was holding a club and an far in the back archer along with what appeared to be a staff welder stood.


    Bandits. Kon thought as the one wield the sword hefted it, placing the blade upon his shoulder as he pointed at them, his voice gravelly and like someone needing to blow their nose.


    "Oi! You lot... hand over all you got and we''ll leave you with your lives!"


    The knight turned to the elf, who chuckled. A feeling of horror suddenly grew in the pip of Kon''s stomach. He recalled how the knight had dispatched the [GOD] with brutal efficiency. With an almost casual air the knight in question pulled his blade from the sheath and dismounted his horse. He strode towards the bandits.


    The bandits didn''t seem to anticipate the casual and self assurance in the knight''s reaction to their demands. The lead bandit gritted his teeth.


    "Right then, a fight it is."


    He said as he took a stance, his eyes narrowing as he focused on the knight.


    "Better get-"


    The lead bandits sentence was cut short as the knight dashed forward with inhuman speed. With a single stride he buried his sword into the gut of the lead bandit. The man gasped, his eye bugging out as his grip failed on his blade. The weapon dropped to the ground before the bandit shakily reached downward to feel the point of the blade buried in his belly.


    The knight chuckled, as very slowly he started to pull his sword upward. He leaned in, his helm that hid everything but his eyes made the madness in them all the more frightening. The man gasped, desperately trying to pull himself off the sword but the knight didn''t give the man the chance. With a swift movement he wrenched his blade upwards, the weapon tore through bone and flesh like paper and with a wet slicing sound. The knight in a similar manner to how he''d had dispatched the [GOD] tore his blade up and through the man''s torso.


    The bandit unfolded like a flower, half of his upper body going one way, the other half going the other way. The already dead lead bandit let out one last gurgle, a bubble of blood and spit leaking from his mouth as he grew still. The lead bandits death had a wave like effect on the rest of the bandits. The archer letting out a cry of rage pulled her bow taut before letting off an arrow easily deflected by the knight.


    The man welding the club stumbled backwards, a horrified look on his face as he started to rapidly retreat. In a matter of moments he was running full speed away. A wise choice. As for the fourth member, the staff welding bandit who Kon had determined might be a mage, if this world had magic he wasn''t sure but considering everything and how he''d come to be it was highly likely.


    The possible mage had crumbled to her knees and was staring at the remains of her former comrade with a distant detached kind of horror. She was muttering to herself based off the movement of her mouth but Kon wasn''t close enough to hear.


    He''d turned pale at the sight himself, the sheer brutality of it worse then when the knight had dispatched the [GOD] at least with that thing it hadn''t exactly been human, this had been a human. At least Kon thought the man was human... it was hard to tell with half of him split in two and his insides spilling out to colour the dirt red.


    The knight slowly stalked towards the archer, deflecting arrow after arrow with inhuman speed and precision. The sheers display of skill and strength had Kon still and quite. He''d taken the knight as the strength of the little group he had been taken by but he doubted he could even run away from something like that. He''d be caught or worse with ease.


    The knight had reached the archer. She screamed and pulled a dagger from her side, throwing herself towards the knight. The action seemed to amuse the man and with an almost lazy swing, the knight brought his sword horizontally across the archer. She stumbled to a halt before her upper half just... slid off her lower half and she crumbled to the ground.


    The mage turned slightly, staring to cry. Her muttering was loud enough that Kon could hear it from his position now.


    "Please don''t kill me. Please don''t kill me. Please don''t kill me."


    She was repeatedly begging the knight not to kill her. The man stood over the kneeling mage and considered her, the similarities in the position the mage was in now to the one Kon had been in only a few hours earlier was disturbing. It was even more horrifying was when the knight lifted his sword and like an execution from ages gone. Decapitated her in a single stroke. The headless corpse slump forward, blood spraying from the stump.


    The knight hefted his blade, cleaning it with a rag from his belt. Up ahead the bandit who''d started retreated was throwing himself forward, a clear manic desperation in his actions. He was far enough away that Kon doubted the knight could catch up. But it seemed that didn''t matter as the elf had other plans.


    An arrow sailed over Kon''s shoulder, spooking him from the sheer speed of it. The arrow acted more like a bullet, flying through the air with horrifying speed. The sound it made was loud enough that the feeling man heard it before it struck. He turned his head just as the arrow reached him. The image of the arrow impacting the man''s face before with an almost agonising slowness sinking into his head. A low thump echoed out as the man jerked to a standstill. The arrow protruding from an eye. Blood poured from the wound but it didn''t seem like the man cared. Mostly because in the next moment he slowly toppled like a tree being felled to collapse onto the grass alongside the road.


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    A silence fell upon the road as the knight sheathed his sword and walked back to his horse. When they started to move once more, Kon was staring into dead space. It was the casual nature of it. Neither the knight or the elf had seemingly blinked at the killings. It had felt more like a road bump then the ending of four lives.


    The rest of the journey went by quickly. The dirt road slowly turned into a stone path before like how a stream joins into a river the road merged onto a highway of cobblestone. There wasn''t many travellers from what Kon could see. Aside from the two who''d taken him, in the distance he could see a caravan slowly trudging along


    The horses quickly caught up with the caravan and slowed their pace. Gently trotting alongside it. A few faces peaked out from the caravan, interested in the people who''d shown up. Of those Kon saw there was a few elves, several who look strangely young and one who seemed ancient.


    The rest were a mix of human and human looking but clearly not human. Some children, some adults and a teen. There was even a slave, a stocky looking man bound in chains and wearing a similar collar to the one currently sitting on Kon''s neck. The man looked dejected and downright depressed, although considering he was a slave he did have a lot to be depressed about.


    The travel continued for a while, slowly more people appearing up ahead before finally in the far far distant. A city appeared. The only issue was that even at this distance the city felt... too big, too large. The sheer number of towers and spiring buildings stabbing upwards towards the heavens seemed endless. Kon tried to count them as they slowly drew closer but lost count after getting to over a hundred.


    The city grew closer, reveal more that made its existence alone mind boggling. Above the city was a massive seemingly stone structure. It was like someone had raised a circle of stone and lifted it upwards. On the circle Kon could see what looked like tiny structures and small black dots flittering to and from the massive circle in the sky.


    How the what was clearly a city in the sky was kept aloft was made clear when after around thirty minutes later they reached the outer farming districts of the city, in the centre of the circle was a massive rotating blade, it was spinning so fast it almost blended into the sky. Underneath the stone circle was similar propellors. Just far smaller and rotating at slower speeds.


    It was the wet dream of steam punk fan. A giant flying city. The thoughts of getting to see that city quickly dried up as Kon recalled why he was even getting brough to this place. He brought a hand to the collar still bound around his neck. Slavery. It seemed he was a rare specimen, a curiosity that was worth enough gold to convince these two to drag him all there way to this place to sell.


    The outer wall of the city slowly came into view. A towering construct of stone that seem to have no edges, not points of breakage. It was like the wall was one massive piece of stone raised from the ground and further built upon as needed. The thought of someone having the power to do that made moving through the entrance to the city almost haunting became the damn wall was almost a the horse''s length in width alone.


    The city itself was a melting pot of sound and smell. They''d seemingly entered a market off the bat, people screaming words and trying to tell all manner of things. Kon spied people selling meat, skins, rocks and weapons. And of course, at the very far end of the street, as it split into two more highways of sounds of smell. Sat a massive build that almost screamed wealth and power.


    People were moving in and out of it, most of them in chains. This was clearly whatever equated to the headquarters of the slave trade in this city. And Kon was heading right towards it. A sense of nervous anxiety slowly filled his body as the horses slowly trotted towards the building.


    He didn''t want to be sold off as a slave. He''d died from overworking, so he wasn''t quite as keen on spending the rest of this life also being overworked. Kon froze as another thought hit him, after all he was rare enough to be worth gold. That meant whoever was buying him wasn''t getting him for dumb manual labour. But that only left being a thing to be displayed or...


    A deep shiver ran down Kon''s spine as he crushed that thought away. It was best not to think about that he thought to himself as they came to a stop before the building. A fat chubby man noticed their arrival and Kon could feel the greed emitting from the man in waves, enough that he could almost see the air weighing down with it.


    The man came to a halt before the knight, elf and Kon. He gazed up at him, his eye never leaving Kon''s body, roaming with plain greed as he spoke.


    "How much for the [GOD MADE]?"


    He said, his voice like thick wax and deeply unpleasant to the ears. The elf sitting behind Kon grabbed him by the neck and hosted him off. Placing him alongside the horse as she spoke.


    "Fifty gold."


    Her voice ran out clear and the fat man''s expression soured, he clearly didn''t like the high price tag and if a man who felt like the embodiment of greed was feeling robbed Kon was sure how to feel himself.


    "Surely we can-"


    The man began to say but was cut off by the gruff voice of the knight.


    "60 gold or we take our business elsewhere."


    He said, earning a dirty look from the fat man but it was clear he didn''t want to loose the opportunity of purchasing Kon. He licked his lips, a disgusting action with his features. The fat man''s eye twitched.


    "60 gold but I want to know what kind of [GOD] it came from."


    The knight exchanged a glance with the elf before shrugging. He turned back to face the fat man.


    "Lets take this indoors."


    He said, getting off his horse guiding it to a stable nearby. Seemingly for exactly this. The elf did the same before shoving Kon in front of her, entering the building after the knight. The inside was a far cry from the outside. People off all manner of races and sizes were being dragged around, several were crying but were quickly shut up. Another person shook as he was bound in chains and collared before getting dragged off. The fat man lead them through the mess, going up some starts to a much calmer area of the building. After a few more turns they approached a private room. Upon entering the knight took the first seat, followed by the elf as the fat man stayed standing.


    His unpleasant gaze roaming over Kon as he gesture at the duo to speak. The elf went first.


    "The [GOD] was a summon type. Kept throwing creature after creature at us. It likely had a [ELEMENT] of mystical or ether to it. I''m not well versed in what that mean for the [GOD MADE] that come from it but considering how its last resort was to throw its [GOD MADE] at us I''m pretty sure they''re special."


    The fat man nodded, the rolls of flesh on his face jigging with the motion.


    "Summoner you say. That is a rare type."


    He paused, turning slightly towards the knight. A brief and silent exchange went down before the knight spoke. His gravely voice echoing slightly in the room.


    "Summoner type like Elyen said. Was tough though, never had that much difficultly in killing a [GOD] before, particularly with a blessed blade. Probably had an [ELEMENT] of fortitude to it. Maybe even a half formed [LAW]."


    The fat man raised a bloated brow.


    "A [LAW]? Doubtful. Even if it was half baked, a [GOD] with something like that would have been known about for a while. A [LAW] makes ripples in the world large enough to notice for most diviners."


    He said his waxy voice as ever unpleasant to the ear. He tilted his head as he seemed to consider what he''d been told. He tapped his thigh before nodding.


    "Alright, sixty gold it is."


    He spoke curtly the words somehow more nasally then before. He flicked his fingers, producing a white bag that made clinking sounds as he rolled it in his grip. He threw it over to the elf. The elf caught the bag of gold with ease, deftly pocketing it before standing up and grabbing the collar around Kon''s neck.


    With a soft click it came off and she pushed him towards the fat man who had produced a collar of his own. He deftly slipped it around Kon''s neck, not giving him a moment. The movements practiced nature betraying just how much this fat man had done that.


    As the cold metal of the new collar click around Kon''s neck and the knight and elf walked out of the private room. Leaving him alone with the fat man. Kon couldn''t help but had the feeling like he was trapped in a room with sexual predator. That was the vibe the man gave off as he placed once of his flabby hands on Kon''s head.


    "You''ll make a wonderful gift for the emperor."


    The fat man said, his grin widening as Kon resisted the urge to puke from the sensation of his sweaty flabby hands on him. All he could think of was that disgustingly mushy sensation as the man dragged him away into the darkness.

 Chapter 3 - Clean

    Kon shivered, feeling some water drip from his still moist fur. He''d been quickly guided from the private room upon the sale being completed and brough into a large bathing area.


    It was then he realised that since the moment he''d be shoved into that mass of twisting flesh, bone and sinew and being taken by the knight and elf he had been completely nude. The thought hadn''t really hit him in the rush and constantly intense events as he was dragged to this place.


    He glanced downward, but his mixed emotions he found nothing. Just a smooth expanse of the blue fur that covered the rest of him. He shifted his arm, which he had resting on his side, the black scales of his limb smooth as it rubbed against his outer thigh.


    He turned his gaze upward, back towards the crowded rooms before him. The scents and sights of water, herbs and both cleanliness and muck assaulting his senses.


    The fat man let out a huff. "MAIDS!" He yelled into the hustle of the room. A few of the people who were walking around carrying bundles of fabric and water quickly finished their duties and hurried over to stand before the fat man.


    The all bowed in unison. Seemingly trained to do that. The fat man dragged his gaze over them before shoving Kon forward. He stumbled, not expecting the sudden push.


    The maids turned their attention onto him, sending a shiver down his spine as the weight of several gazes fell onto him. He straightened up, standing before them while an awkward silence hung.


    "Go clean it up, its been on the road for a while" The fat man said, his voice growing distant as he turned away and walked towards the exit of the bathing area.


    The maids seemed to consider Kon before what seemed like the leader of the impromptu group gestured at a smaller, more softer maid with deep rich brown hair that was bundled up behind her head in a bun. Two dull green eyes set into a weathered face.


    She grabbed Kon''s hand, tugging him to follow them as they navigated through the bathing area. They moved around bath''s and people getting hosed down. Screaming and begging as they were splashed with water and forced to wipe themselves down.


    The lead maid stopped before an empty tub. Gesture for the other two maids, the softer maid tugged Kon forward and wordlessly gestured at the tub. He climbed into the tub. Cold still water lapping at his ankles as he stood in the wooden bowl.


    The leader who had a almost motherly tone to her, but the side of a mother that would beat and teach her child through violence and punishments instead of a warm almost inviting figure. She had greying hair and a cold almost indifference air to her. The silver-gold eyes set into her thin face seemingly focused on nothing but the job before her.


    The third maid, a younger one compared to the other two. She came carrying a bucket of steaming water. It was clearly heavy but she didn''t complain or stumble. Making her way to the tub in which Kon now stood before dumping the contents of the bucket into the tub.


    The water was hot, almost boiling but quickly cooled down upon contacting the cold water left inside the tub. The other maid dumped a bunch of herbs into the water, rubbing them together between her hands as it produced a thick lather. The tub was quickly filled with soapy water, white bubbles with an iridescent sheen to them bobbing upon the surface of the water.


    The maids pulled brushes and wipes from their aprons. Setting to work. Kon shivered as one grabbed his tail, a long thin structure that was thickest at the point where it joint at the base of his spine, just above his rear.


    The sensation of the maid drenching his tail in wet soapy water was unpleasantly strong, it seemed his tail was very sensitive. The other maids had already started to work on the rest of his body. The leader maid dumped a bunch of water upon his head, he shiver. An urge to shake his body hard to dry himself of rising up.


    The maid grabbed his snout and started to scrub, the bristles of the brush unpleasant and grating against the fur of his face. The other man worked upon his legs. Cleaning off the dust and sweat in the mattered fur there from the long ride to this place.


    While the sensation of being cleaned wasn''t pleasant, all rough and forceful without care of personal space, Kon could admit that the sensation of being clean was nice.


    It felt like decades of filth was being pulled from his flesh, stains that followed lifetimes being dredged out of his soul and washed away.


    A splash of cold water against his chest shakes him from his thoughts. The water had lost its warmth and the shock had shocked him as the maids dragged him like a sodden cat from the tub. Bundling him up in cloth to dry his fur.


    They rubbed towels and cloth over him until his fur was standing up, soft and fluffy from the rapid drying. He blinked, feeling oddly warm as his fur slowly smoothed down, returning to the glossy pelt it was before.


    The maid''s grabbed him, dragging him towards another area. This one had piles of clothing of different types and shapes. It seemed this place often dealt with creature far different to humans or only partly human shaped.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    They grabbed some loose flowing shorts and shoved the linen into his hands, crossing their arms as they waited for Kon to dress himself. He hesitated for a moment, looking at the shorts clutched in his claws before lifting a leg and sliding it through the pant''s leg.


    The cloth was uncomfortable, like a second skin against his fur as he pulled it up and loosely tied the knot at its front. The maid''s grabbed him the moment he''d gotten the pant''s secure. Pulling him out of the bathing area and into a hallway.


    After several turns through several more hallways they arrived at their destination. Opening the wooden door revealed a stark stone room with little else but crude bed and a window. The maid''s shoved him inside before closing the door with a thump, leaving him alone in there.


    He stood in the middle of the room before wandering over to the bed. It had a metal frame, the bedding was little else but straw shoved into a vaguely rectangular shape.


    However it was a softer surface then the stone against his feet so he crawled onto the bed and curled up. Hugging his legs against his chest as he stared at the door on the other side of the room.


    The events of the last day didn''t feel real. The memories of dying were blurred, faded like it had been an ungodly amount of time since them, and the memories of his time in that strange place between places was oddly vibrant yet patchwork. Like he could recall parts, yet others were simply not there.


    The memories of the bird-headed figure as it created his body and shoved his soul into it before being dispatched by the knight was strong, he was still digesting what that figure was, so far people had called it a god. But not the word god, it was like they were saying a word which didn''t have a meaning to him.


    Like he was hearing the closest translation. Other words had also had that odd duel quality to them. The layered meaning. Things like element or law. They seemed important. But why and how he didn''t have the faintest clue.


    He shifted, rolling over to lay on his back, the stone''s above him were dusty, likely they hadn''t been cleaned in a long while. His mind shifted to what would happen now. The fat man had bought him and it seemed he was to be a gift. A gift to a emperor but who knows what they are like in this world.


    So far, god, monsters and people with powers far, far beyond anything humanly possible existed in this place. Likely things far separated with anything he had ever even imaged existed here. The massive city in the sky was also something different.


    This world clearly had magic, or some form of it. How else did they build a wall which had no seams? Or raise stone so high into the sky you could build a city upon it. The nagging problem was that Kon didn''t know what that mean for him.


    Could he use magic? And if so how? Did this world follow the classical rules and you have to have some special thing to use magic? Well so far he seemed  pretty special. The fat man had paid a fortune for him and wanted to use him as a gift to the emperor. So clearly he was special or at least whatever he was now was special.


    But what if magic different? What if it was able to be used by everybody expect you needed special manuals or to be taught by masters who lived in some cave hidden in a mountain. With his status as a slave there was no doubt he was never going to be able to learn magic if that was how it functioned in this world.


    He sighed, raising a hand before his face and opening and closing his fingers. It still felt surreal to be alive once more, let alone no longer human. He felt human, most of him. He still had two legs, two arms and most of what made a human.. well human.


    But he also had a tail, a snout, claws on the end of his fingers and toes. He had ears not on the side of his head but almost on the top. His hand drifted to gently touch the sensitive structures. They felt soft, much like the rest of him.


    It didn''t feel odd having fur, almost similar to having hair you didn''t notice it really. It felt like just another part of you that was there. Not separate or wrong, just there. The tail was a similar thing. He could move it willingly but most of the time it just did its own thing.


    At the moment it was curled around his leg. He could feel it and his brain rejected the sensations it sent. Refusing to accept the strange signals it was getting from something that to it shouldn''t be there. Moving it also felt like using a limb that didn''t exist. Like if you grew an extra thumb, it was there. You could see it but moving it was deeply unpleasant.


    A sigh escaped his mouth. He hadn''t spoke since utter a swear all the way back when he was dragged onto the saddle of the elf''s horse. It had felt wrong to speak, his vocal cords felt different and his voice unfamiliar.


    He mouthed some different words, feeling how his different mouth made forming them difficult.


    "Hello. No. Yes"


    He said slowly, working through each syllable. The voice that reached his ears was deeper and wrong. It sounded like he was forcing himself to make the wrongs sounds. With the strain he felt on his vocal cords it was likely he was indeed making the wrong sounds.


    What was the right sound he didn''t know. Consider the cry that the other god made had made before it was easily killed it likely wasn''t anything close to language.


    He rubbed at his face, he felt lost. Out of his depth. He was used to working late, drinking coffee and struggling through the day only to do it in the next. This whole thing felt like more of a fever dream then his new reality.


    He didn''t want to be a god made, he didn''t want to have a tail have a snout and have fur and scales. He didn''t want to be a slave. He didn''t want any of this.


    But it didn''t seem the world really cared. He stared up at the celling again. Tracing the cracks and grooves of the stones with his eyes. He wondered what he looked like, his face at least. He''d gotten a look at the rest of him, but he could only guess what his face looked like.


    He''d felt his face and he had a stubby snout, his teeth were oddly blunt yet sharp. His tongue was long, far longer then it had any right to be.


    He opened his mouth, yawning. A sense of weariness overcoming him. He stared at the celling for a while longer.


    Wondering as time slowly passed, the passage of light coming in from the window slowly growing weak. The shadows in the corner of the room slowly deepening until darkness had swallowed up the room.


    The weak light streaming in slowly turned silver, making his fur glow slightly, points of light almost like stars dotting him. Giving his body the image of a stary sky. His fur dark enough that the lack of light made him merge with the darkness.


    He played with the light for a bit before letting his hand fall to his side.


    Exhaustion finally caught up with him and dragged him into the dark.

 Chapter 4 - New clothing

    Sleeping in a straw bed was surprising comfortable. Once would expect that the straw would poke and stab at their skin and normally that would indeed be the case, however Kon''s scales and fur acted like a barrier. Making the usually uncomfortable bed quite comfortable.


    The light streaming in through the bars that criss-crossed the window however wasn''t quite as comfortable. Kon raised a hand to block out the the light as he groaned. He frowned trying to figure out when he got a window like this in his apartment.


    He pushed himself up and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his face as he yawned. He turned to look at a clock he always had on the wall and paused as nothing but stone greeted him. He blinked in confusion and swept his gaze across the room, taking in its cell like state and bare nature.


    The memories slowly tumbled back into his mind and his expression of confusion vanished, he sighed. Feeling sullen as he got up. He walked around the room, taking the chance to look through the window.


    The view that greeted him was the skyline of the city. Houses stretched as far as the eye could see before even those were hidden behind towering buildings and structures. In the far distance he could spy a towering mountain with what appeared to be a palace build upon its slopes.


    His gaze wander, taking in the sight of both a familiar yet alien landscape. A hard and insistent knocking at the door to his cell broke him from his musing.


    Turning to face the door as it swung open. Revealing a maid, the sight of her made Kon''s mind wander to the previous maid''s who''d cleaned him. It make him noticed how he''d never seen any male servants.


    His face scrunched up as he recalled the fat man and joined the dots as to why this place only have female servants.


    Shaking that thought from his mind he pushed off from where he leaned against the wall as the maid gesture at him to come. Once he left the cell the maid pulled out a thin and silver strip of chain. She placed one end upon the collar, the metal seamlessly fused with the collar around his neck.


    The maid check to see if it was working and tugged Kon forward, the movement jerking the chain now attached to his collar. He stumbled forward before falling into place alongside the maid.


    They walked through the plain hallway, on either side was door similar to the one that led to the cell he''d spent the night in. He could hear sound coming from within some, likely their occupants.


    The maid guided him out of that part of the building and into a far more lush and expensive part. It felt like he''d gone from the back end and was now in the front end of this place. A rich and comfortable carpet was soft against his bare feet, the thick threads a pleasing sensation as they shifted around his claws with each step.


    The maid pulled him into a small room. It had dark lighting and no windows. Several couches with a rich red, almost black coloured leather ran along the sides of the room.


    The maid directed him to sit on one of the couches before hooking the other end of the chain to a bracket on the wall. She left shortly after that, leaving him in the room alone.


    The sound of voices slowly filtered in through the other entrance to the room. The the fat man and a person who was dressed in a large feathered coat that screamed I''m rich entered the room.


    They were in the middle of a discussion. Seemingly about him.


    "So I''ve heard you wish to give a gift to our most holy emperor. I''m not sure if my informants were correct but they say you have a-"


    The richly dressed man pauses upon seeing Kon sitting on the couch. He smiled but it wasn''t a pleasing one. It made Kon feel like an object with how interest flared in the man''s eyes.


    "Well, they were not lying. You do have a [GOD MADE] I''ve never seen one so... intact."


    The richly dressed man muttered. The fat man chuckled, his rolls of flesh bouncing as he let out a hearty laugh.


    "Of course! Why did you not believe me? I''m the Great Hisen! I do not claim falsehoods!"


    The fat man said, revealing his name was Hisen, the other man nodded. Giving a warm smile as he clapped Hisen''s shoulder.


    "Indeed, I should have never doubted you friend. Our emperor will be most pleased with this gift. Such a rare creature will surely gain us great influence and allow us to expanse far greater."


    The richly dressed man paused.


    "Perhaps we might be able to finally get a branch on the flying city. It''s docked at the moment but who knows when it will leave, we must act with haste before this chance slips through our fingers."


    Stolen novel; please report.


    The richly dressed man said flicking his fingers as he spoke. A maid answered his call, appearing alongside him and bowing. The richly dressed man nodded and flicked his head toward Kon.


    "Get it ready, we leave for the palace in an hour."


    The maid bowed, lifting her dress slightly as she rose up. The two men left, still engage in discussion about how they would expand.


    The maid once they were out of sight dropped her act and strode with a quite kind of confidence. She deftly pulled the chain from where it was latched to the wall and curtly spoke.


    "Up"


    Kon obeyed, pulling himself off the couch as the maid quickly started to walk away. Dragging him in tow.


    They quickly left the fancy side of the building and returned to the backend of it. The maid pulled him into a dressing area, the first male servant Kon had seen so far was cutting fabrics up and another maid was sowing them. The maid dragging Kon along shoved him onto a chair.


    "The bosses wants this one ready, he''s going to be a gift to the emperor so find something that looks good for it and have it ready quick. You know what happens if you fail."


    The male servant''s hands shook at the mention of punishment and he nodded.


    "Yes of course. I''ll have it ready as soon as possible."


    He said, his voice shaking ever so slightly. He grabbed a measure tape as the first maid left the room. Kon eyed the man as he drew near and started to measure him. After a short silence he spoke to order Kon up.


    "Get up and hold your arms out."


    He did so, getting up and walking a pace from the chair before holding his arms out. The man quickly measure the rest of him before walking back to the table he was cutting cloth on. The other maid had stopped sowing and turn to look at the man.


    She was seemingly waiting for something. That something became clear as the man muttered to himself, he tapped the table slowly. His fingers making a drumming sound as he thought.


    "Its body is awkward, the tail makes most leg clothing difficult... a upper body works... a robe perhaps?"


    The man said, mostly to himself. The maid chimed in.


    "Perhaps we can use this."


    She said, lifting a rich and expensive looking fabric. It was a rich black, with veins of gold scattered throughout. The man shook his head however.


    "No, too difficult to work with, if we had a day more perhaps. The spine-beast''s hide do we still have some of that left over?"


    He asked, the maid rummaged into pile of fabrics behind her, after a bit she pulled a deep mottled black and grey leather. The man nodded.


    "Good we can make a good coat and perhaps some pants with this. The stiffness will aid for an opening for its tail as well."


    They quickly got to work, Kon had sat back down on the chair. He felt out of place, like he wasn''t supposed to be here. Although that feeling slowly left as the minutes passed.


    After what felt like forever the male servant voice cut through his thoughts.


    "Hey, get up."


    He did so, the servant was standing before him, holding a rather expensive set of pants. The leggings were clearly made for him, they had a hole at the back for his tail and an interesting design. They were baggy yet they also narrowed at the ends.


    The man gesture for Kon to undress, he didn''t exactly want to but it didn''t seem like he had a choice. He undid the knot at the front of his shorts and shimmed out of them. The man took the shorts from him and gave him the new pants.


    They were soft, far softer then they had any right to be. They slid silky smooth against the scales of his leg as he pulled them up. Letting the rest comfortably against his waist. The pants fit perfectly but Kon didn''t get a chance to full enjoy it.


    The man shoved another article of clothing into his hands. It was a similarly baggy shirt that seemed almost like a sweater rather then a shirt. He pulled it on regardless, struggling a bit to get it over his collar for a moment. But it fit perfectly as well. Its arms narrowed in a similar manner to the pants. Conforming to his body.


    The man seemed to be proud of his work, although he didn''t get to gloat for long. The door to the dressing area opened and the maid who''d guided Kon to the place returned. They nodded at the sight of him. All dressed up.


    "Good."


    The maid sit, walking to Kon and grabbing the chain hanging off his collar. She tugged on it, getting him to move.


    They exited the dressing room, moving through the hallways. This time they didn''t bring him to the front area of the place. Instead they moved through hallway after hallway until arriving in a small courtyard, a tight road lead out onto the street and in the courtyard sat a carriage.


    The creature dragging the carriage behind it however was something out of a nightmare. It looked like if you took a horse, killed it before scraping its bones clear and then took a lizard, scaled it up to the size of a horse and crudely inserted the horses bones into and along its body. Giving it the image of having its bones on the outside.


    The creature shifted, turning its head to look at the two people who''d showed up. Its eyes, it had four of them. Two large golden eyes that sat where eyes normally should and two more, smaller eyes that sat below its main eyes. The second set had a gold almost red colour and constantly flicked to and from different points all around.


    A voice cut through the stirring curiosity in Kon''s chest.


    "A beauty isn''t she?"


    Turn to find the source of the voice Kon was meet with the sight of an old grizzled man leaning against the wall of the courtyard. He was smoking a pipe, the smoke was a strange purple colour and didn''t seem to follow the soft breeze that gently blew through the yard.


    Kon opened his mouth, almost about to respond but the maid did first.


    "Porter. You know why your here, I assume the boss''s told you?"


    The man huffed. Exhaling another puff of smoke.


    "Yes yes, aren''t you a stickler. Can''t an old man have some fun?"


    The maid stared at him with a bland expression until he huffed and pushed off the wall. Waving her off as he walked over to the creature side and patted it. He grabbed the side of the carriage and lifted himself up to the drivers seat.


    The porter huffed and tapped the carriage behind him.


    "Well get on, they are waiting in the palace."


    Kon turned to the maid who was already dragging him towards the carriage. She pulled open the door and got inside, tugging on the chain to get Kon to get in. The inside of the carriage was opulent. Rich carpet covered the floor and the seats was a soft leather. The space was rather cramped with the two of them inside.


    The maid huffed, and Kon had the feeling she didn''t exactly like him. She rapped her knuckles upon the wall of the carriage and with a jolt it started to move.


    Kon swallow, a nervous pit opening up in his stomach. He didn''t know what was waiting him but it felt impossibly daunting.


    He clenched his fists together, settling in for the long ride.